


Autumn::Spring

by shherie



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Caring, Cold, Ficlet, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Terminal Illnesses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 17:40:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6763777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shherie/pseuds/shherie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>{NaruSasu ficlet} {AU} “A chill breeze swept down the path and Sasuke shivered beside him. Naruto instantly took off his own jacket and laid it over Sasuke’s shoulders. When Sasuke didn’t object, Naruto knew that he must be feeling very unwell indeed. <i>I’m an idiot</i>, Naruto scolded himself. <i>How could I bring Sasuke out here? I’m just making everything worse.</i>”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Autumn::Spring

**Author's Note:**

> **!!Angst Incoming!!**
> 
> (...seriously. Angssssst.)

**[Autumn]**

“Don’t baby me, Naruto!”  Sasuke snapped, wrenching his arm out of Naruto’s grasp. “I can walk on my own, for god’s sake!” He turned his whole body to the side and shrank away as they walked down the shadowed path.

Naruto flinched, pulling his hands back and shoving them deep in his pockets. “Ri- right, I know you can, I just-”

“I’m _fine_ , I told you!” Sasuke interrupted, moving further away.

 _You’re not fine!_ Naruto growled to himself, biting his bottom lip and glaring down at the ground, at the shrivelled leaves crunching under his feet. The picnic basket was still heavy with uneaten food. None of Naruto’s carefully-chosen selections had tempted him, not the dozen varieties of onigiri, not the thermos of fancy green tea. It had been so expensive!

“…I’m sorry,” Naruto muttered. “Maybe it wasn’t a good idea.”

Sasuke sighed audibly and paused. “Look, I- I’m _tired_ , okay?”

“I know you are,” Naruto said back. “I just thought- I was just trying to do something nice!” And failing, obviously. Failing completely.

Sasuke paused abruptly, and when Naruto turned back, he found those dark eyes gazing back at him with despairing neutrality. “I need to rest for a bit,” Sasuke said, moving off the path and falling heavily onto a park bench. He slumped over, his features pale in the fading light. He’d become so thin that his cheekbones were more prominent than ever, his shoulder blades clearly visible even under his jacket.

Naruto sat cautiously by his side, leaving a clear buffer-zone between them. The late autumn light set the yellow-and-orange trees all around them on fire, yet their soft glow offered them no warmth.

“Sorry, Sasuke,” he said again. He knew Sasuke was tired. They should have just stayed home. Sasuke needed all the rest he could get.

A chill breeze swept down the path and Sasuke shivered beside him. Naruto instantly took off his own jacket and laid it over Sasuke’s shoulders. When Sasuke didn’t object, Naruto knew that he must be feeling very unwell indeed.

 _I’m an idiot_ , Naruto scolded himself. _How could I bring Sasuke out here? I’m just making everything worse_. He leant back against the bench and stared up at the sky, obscured by the reedy overhanging branches of the tree behind them.

“I ruined our picnic,” Sasuke spoke, his voice low and numb.

Naruto kept his eyes on the sky. “It was ruined before it even began,” he murmured wearily, feeling that little bubble of annoyance and tension in his mind melt away at Sasuke’s words. They couldn’t waste any of the time they had left with anger; yet no matter what had happened, it was still him and Sasuke. They’d always fought, they’d always bickered. That didn’t change overnight, just because Sasuke was sick.

He shivered as the cool wind hit his bare arms. As he stared upwards, a single burnt-orange leaf drifted gently down towards them. Naruto followed its progress, lowering his gaze as the leaf came closer and closer and eventually landed in Sasuke’s lap.

“I remember this tree,” Sasuke said softly, closing his hands around the leaf. “It’s a cherry blossom.”

Naruto looked up again, narrowing his eyes. The tree’s thin, frail branches were almost bare. It was a tall, grand tree- if it really _were_ a cherry blossom, it must look stunning in spring. Yet now in late autumn, there was hardly any sign left of its true self.

“We should go home,” Naruto suggested, inching closer to Sasuke’s side gingerly. It was getting cold. They had to have dinner before Sasuke could take his medicine. Naruto needed to make something that he’d agree to eat. 

A moment passed. Sasuke looked over at him, his eyes heavy and tired and full of feeling. Something deep inside Naruto’s chest started to ache.

“Mm,” Sasuke murmured back. He reached over and placed the leaf on Naruto’s thigh. “Just a little longer.” And then he shuffled down to rest his head on Naruto’s shoulder, closing his eyes and breathing out softly.

Naruto froze. “Sasuke…?”

“I’m a terrible boyfriend,” Sasuke said bluntly, his tone flat. “I know I am. You’re doing- you’re doing your best. I know that. You should have just _left_.”

Left? _That was never going to happen_ , Naruto wanted to say; yet somehow he found that his throat had closed up, and he couldn’t speak a word. Just as well. His voice would have broken.

So instead he just sat there, one hand curled around the dried-up leaf, and the other stretching around to hold Sasuke to his side. The sun set and the leaves blew up and down the path in the evening breeze. At moments like these, Naruto couldn’t deny the truth to himself. Sasuke was dying, and there was nothing he could do.

***

**[Spring]**

“I told you, didn’t I?” Sasuke spoke softly, his words light and ephemeral, barely reaching Naruto’s ears. “It’s a cherry blossom.”

“You did tell me,” Naruto confirmed, pulling Sasuke closer to his side, wrapping the blanket tighter around his shoulders. Even with winter passed the air was still brittle and sharp. Naruto wanted to shield Sasuke from every unpleasantness he could.

“I’ll have some more tea,” Sasuke went on, and Naruto held the cup to his mouth, tipping it back gently and letting him drink. “Mm, it’s good,” Sasuke murmured, nestling into Naruto’s warmth.

A year ago, Sasuke would have knocked him senseless if he’d tried to do something like that. And now, well, now he just… _He’s stopped fighting me. It’s a good thing_ , Naruto tried to tell himself. _He’s letting me help._

They didn’t fight about _anything_ anymore. Sasuke didn’t care when Naruto ate instant ramen for breakfast, or when he left his towel on the bathroom floor. He barely even noticed. Naruto hovered around him all day, fluffing his pillows, bringing him books, checking his temperature, and Sasuke’s unseeing eyes just took it all in, his attention off somewhere- else.

Naruto sighed. He placed the cup beside him and gazed around at the path and park covered in soft pink petals. In a week, maybe two, all the blossoms would be gone and the tree above them would become as indistinct as it was in autumn- just another one of the infinite trees in the park.

“They’re beautiful,” Naruto said of the cherry blossoms, taking Sasuke’s hand and twining their fingers together. There was no strength in Sasuke’s grip. Naruto tried not to think about it. “But don’t you think they’re kind-of…”

“Depressing?” Sasuke prompted.

He paused. “…yeah,” he finally said. “Seems like they just arrived yesterday, and before you know it, they’ll just be- gone.”

“Maybe,” Sasuke said, trembling slightly in the frigid air. “But they’ll be back next year.”

“We’ll come and see them again next year, then,” Naruto declared, squeezing Sasuke’s hand tighter.

Sasuke fell silent, leaning heavily on Naruto’s shoulder, his breathing shallow and haggard. Even as Naruto watched, the breeze blew more blossoms from the tree, sending them spiralling through the air on a final, frantic journey before they came to rest on the ground.

“Look, Naruto,” Sasuke spoke, shifting slightly and pointing to the cup of tea on the bench beside them. A small pink petal had landed neatly right inside. “It’s good luck, isn’t it?”

“Is it?” Naruto asked, some part of him turning numb at Sasuke’s words. It seemed to him that they’d both already used up all their luck. Sasuke was still here- past his expiry date, as he so cruelly put it. He was in pain, but it was manageable. “Maybe I’ll keep it, then,” he went on.

“You’re so sentimental,” Sasuke scorned.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Naruto agreed. He leaned over and brushed his mouth against Sasuke’s, holding there briefly before moving away. “A sentimental idiot,” he murmured, whispering in Sasuke’s ear, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck.

“Don’t tickle me, moron!” Sasuke went on, shifting a little under Naruto’s touch, Naruto’s breath against his skin. Naruto smiled into his neck, but didn’t move.

He stayed there, hiding his face from Sasuke’s eyes. “Hey, Sasuke,” Naruto began, opening his mouth and speaking without thought. “Do you believe in reincarnation?”

There was silence, again; Naruto stayed tucked to Sasuke’s side. He was too skinny- his shoulder was too bony to be at all comfortable, but Naruto stayed there regardless. The words he’d spoken so carelessly hung between them, and he felt Sasuke shift underneath him.

“Naruto…” Sasuke said, his voice full of warning. “Do you-”

“-ah, you don’t need to answer that!” Naruto quickly interrupted, moving away and staring down at the ground. “It was silly, I don’t know why I even said it!” He risked a quick glance in Sasuke’s direction, and found him gazing heavily back.

“I wish I did,” Sasuke spoke, and when Naruto looked over he found Sasuke’s dark eyes trained on the pink-covered branches above their bench, a far-away expression on his face. “Believe it, I mean. Another chance. A fresh start. It…sounds nice.”

Naruto bit his lip. He slid his hand across the bench to take Sasuke’s; they fit together so perfectly, so seamlessly. It was rare to hear Sasuke speak like this. He rarely spoke more than two sentences at a time these days, and he was never the most talkative guy to begin with.

 _But I love him anyway_ , came a voice inside Naruto’s mind. Yes, he did, and it hurt; it hurt in a deep, throbbing, aching way that Naruto knew would leave scars all through his insides, leaving him in pain for the rest of his life. But what good did it do to think like that? The seasons changed; the cherry blossoms never stayed long.

“I’m glad we came here today,” Naruto said, risking a shaky, lopsided smile; Sasuke smiled back at him.

“Let’s finish the tea before it gets cold,” Sasuke suggested. “And maybe- maybe we can come here again. Before the blossoms disappear, I mean.”

Naruto nodded and poured them some tea, not trusting his voice to speak steadily. There was nothing he wanted more than to sit under the cherry blossom tree again with Sasuke. In this life, or another; as long as it was the two of them, and they were together. That was all he needed.

 


End file.
